


They Liked You, Too

by fadedink



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-14
Updated: 2015-07-14
Packaged: 2018-04-09 08:17:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4341044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fadedink/pseuds/fadedink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If the night blows up in their faces, he'll do his best to keep from saying "I told you so" too loudly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	They Liked You, Too

**Author's Note:**

> I originally posted this as a chapter in a long string of Tumblr prompt ficlets, but wanted to repost it so it's in its proper place. If that makes sense.

For what is probably the hundredth time, Bucky looks at himself in the mirror and wonders if he should change. After all, jeans and a button down might be _too_ casual. He wants to make a good impression, because these are Steve's friends. His new Howling Commandos of a sort.

He also questions his hair and silently curses not letting Steve cut it (he's still not comfortable with knives or scissors anywhere near his head and neck). Down, it's shaggy and long, and up it's still messy and looks ridiculous. So he tilts his head from side to side to examine it and is reaching for it yet again when Steve calls from the living room of their apartment.

With a not so quietly muttered string of four letter words that mostly consist of "shit fuck dammit god fucking dammit fuck fucking _fuck_ ," Bucky rubs his right hand down the leg of his jeans and heads out of the bathroom.

If the night blows up in their faces, he'll do his best to keep from saying "I told you so" too loudly.

*

"We don't have to do this," Steve says, and Bucky shakes his head.

He's been out of custody – _home_ – for two weeks, and this is the first time he's left the apartment that didn't involve a therapy session or formal meeting. This... This is dinner. With Steve's new team.

"No, I want to," he says for the third time (because that's how many times Steve's asked already, and Bucky knows he'll ask at least that many more times). He reaches up with fingers that flash in the passing street lamps and tucks a strand of hair behind one ear. "This is... We were invited. _I_ was invited. I want to do this, Steve."

Steve just nods and settles back against the cab seat. But he still asks twice more during the thirty block cab ride and again once their feet are on the sidewalk outside Avengers Tower. Bucky gives himself a mental high five for remembering enough about Steve to get the question count right.

*

The first person to greet them is the one who opens the door, and her name is Pepper Potts.

She's beautiful and elegant and has a kind smile. And she smells like summer.

Bucky falls head over heels immediately and tries not to stare.

*

He doesn't even pretend that he isn't staring when Steve introduces him to Thor. The man (god? Bucky isn't entirely clear on that one, just that he's definitely not from around here) is bigger than Steve and there's a hammer on the coffee table that apparently goes with him and there's a story that goes with that hammer that embarrasses just about everyone. Bucky makes a mental note to ask Steve about it later when they're in private.

Thor is more than a little terrifying (mostly because there's a niggling voice in the back of his head that tells Bucky that Thor could take him, even _with_ the arm and second rate serum he was given), and he takes up a lot of space. But it's his girlfriend, Jane Foster, who fascinates Bucky.

She starts talking about quantum physics and space and convergences and looks embarrassed when Thor laughs softly and nudges her.

Bucky falls a little bit for her, too.

*

Bruce is quiet and a little frayed around the edges and there's something in his eyes that calls to Bucky. But he takes care to keep his movements small and slow and deliberate and doesn't shy away from Bucky's gaze when they talk.

It's refreshing. Bucky makes another mental note – adding it to the long list in his head – to talk more with him before the end of the night.

*

Natasha scares Bucky. A lot. He knows what she is and what she's done and what she's still very much capable of doing.

Plus there's the matter of Odessa between them.

And the fact that he knows she kissed Steve once (and he's pretty sure that she knows he knows) and that makes something deep inside Bucky's chest get tight and hot. He finds himself standing just that much closer to Steve while they attempt to make small talk.

But then she makes some joke about fossils and the Smithsonian that has Steve's ears turning pink (something that Bucky stares at with more than a little amusement) and asks if Steve's set up his swear jar yet (Bucky doesn't get that reference, but everyone else does from the bright outburst of laughter and the way Steve goes red all the way down beneath his collar). There's a look in her eyes that doesn't jibe with what he knows of her, so Bucky squints a little and stares at her.

She winks at him.

He finds himself sidling just a little closer to her and away from Steve.

*

Tony... Tony is Howard's son and to say things are awkward between them is the understatement of the century.

Bucky doesn't remember killing Howard and Maria (there's a lot he doesn't, and may never, remember because his brain has more holes than Swiss cheese), but there's enough in the files on him to indicate that he probably did. He doesn't know how to apologize for that. And he doesn't think Tony would accept it even if he did.

Steve and Pepper help keep things civil and smooth, but from the way Tony looks at him when he thinks Bucky isn't looking, Bucky thinks that Tony might have been one of the ones lobbying for him to be locked away for the rest of his life. Or at least to have a permanent security detail.

Bucky can't blame him.

And when Tony is arrogant and abrasive (God, Bucky doesn't miss _those_ particular Stark qualities at _all_ ), Bucky ignores it. He makes the best effort he can for Steve's sake.

His fingers reflect light in a quick flash when he scratches his neck, and Bucky freezes like a deer in headlights when Tony's eyes zero in on his hand. Slowly, Bucky lets his hand drop and reaches for the cuff of his left sleeve. Tony's gaze is focused on every move with laser-like intensity as Bucky undoes the buttons and rolls the sleeve to his elbow.

When he extends his arm towards Tony, he sees Steve's small smile when Tony reacts like a kid in a candy store.

*

Sam and Rhodey remind Bucky of Gabe in some ways, and he can't stop the way his breath catches at the sharp pain in his chest. They look concerned and so does Steve, but Bucky shakes his head and tells them he's okay.

He's good.

It's just another memory tearing free.

Sam acts as if nothing happened and Rhodey goes along with it, both of them treating Bucky like he's completely normal. He likes that.

He doesn't like it when Sam regales them with some story about Steve jumping out of a plane without a parachute (Natasha is close enough to overhear and chimes in to point out that it wasn't for the _first_ time). And Steve, the little punk, doesn't even have the grace to look ashamed of himself when Bucky turns a flat stare on him.

*

But it's Clint who gets the strongest visceral reaction out of Bucky. At first, his eyes are hard when they shake hands and Bucky wonders if he did something wrong.

But then he catches a glimpse of Natasha's face and oh. _Oh_. Odessa. Again. How do you apologize for shooting someone when it wasn't you who did the shooting?

How do you apologize for being a weapon that was pointed at the world?

Bucky doesn't know, but he opens his mouth to try when Clint's expression shifts. His eyes lose the hardness and something blooms in the blue depths. Something that looks like understanding. And compassion.

He can't say he's too surprised when Bucky finds himself gravitating towards Clint over the course of the evening.

*

On the cab ride home, Steve doesn't ask how Bucky is or how he's feeling or anything like that, and Bucky's grateful. He knows that talking about all of that is part of the therapy, but so is the quiet time to process everything that's going on in his head.

"Tonight was good," he finally says when they're two blocks from the brownstone. His voice is soft when he speaks, and he carefully doesn't look at Steve.

"It was," Steve agrees, and his voice is just as soft. Bucky doesn't need to see him to know he's smiling that smile again. The one that's always been reserved for Bucky.

"I like them," Bucky adds as Steve unlocks their front door and flips on a light.

Steve shoots him a look that's part skepticism and part amusement. "Even Tony?"

"Even Tony." Bucky smiles and looks down at his left hand as he flexes the fingers. "He's not so bad. Wants to look at my arm, though."

"You're not a lab rat," Steve says after a long moment, and there's a hint of fire in his voice.

Bucky just smiles again and shakes his head. "No, it's good. He said it...it could help, y'know. With combat vets. Prosthetics."

"Ah," is all Steve says as he steps up behind Bucky and wraps his arms around his waist. Bucky practically melts into the warmth. "You okay with that?"

"Yeah," Bucky says, and he's surprised that he means it. "I think I am."

He turns in Steve's arm and presses the palm of that hand to Steve's jaw, the touch surprisingly delicate. Leaning in, he brushes his lips against Steve's once, twice, a third time, humming softly as Steve kisses him back. "Are you okay with it?"

"Yeah," Steve whispers as he rests his forehead against Bucky's and takes a deep breath. When he opens his eyes, the brilliance of their color makes Bucky's breath hitch in his lungs. "They liked you, too."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."


End file.
